Dorothy
Harris
formerly [surname unknown]
Born before in England
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of
John Harris
— married
1610 in England
Descendants 
Died after
after age 27
in Colony of Virginia [uncertain]
[uncertain]
Profile managers:
Scott McClain 
[send private message], Richard Draper [send private message], Michael Foos [send private message], and US Southern Colonies Project WikiTree [send private message]
[send private message], Richard Draper [send private message], Michael Foos [send private message], and US Southern Colonies Project WikiTree [send private message]Profile last modified
| Created 11 Dec 2013
This page has been accessed 325 times.
There are disproven, disputed, or competing theories about this person's parents. See the text for details.
The Birth Date is a rough estimate. See the text for details.
| Dorothy (Unknown) Harris resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies |
Note: Her parents are unknown. She has been detached from George Calcott and Dorothy Lymbrey due to lack of evidence.
Contents |
Biography
Origins
Based on her appearance in Virginia in February 1623/4, already married and with two infant children,[1] Dorothy (___) was probably born before 1600 in England. Her origins are unknown but two possible theories concerning her parents are discussed in the Research Notes below.
Marriage
Dorothy (___) married John Harris, probably before 1619, based on the birth of their earliest known child Dorothy, who was born in about 1620.[2]
Jamestown
John and "Dorithe" Harris were living at West and Shirley Hundrend in the Colony of Virginia on 16 February 1623/4.[1][3][4]
They were not listed in the Muster of 1624/5 because they were on a visit to England. On 1 May 1624, their son John was born and baptized at the house of Edward Lymbry of Lyme House, Mariner. This baptism was recorded in the parish reigster of St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney, in the city of London.[5][6]
Death
Dorothy (___) Harris was still alive on 4 June 1627 when she is referred to in a court case involving her daughter Dorothy.[2] She died after 1627, but the circumstances of her death are unknown.
A prior version of this profile gave a death date for her of 14 October 1638, but that appears to be based solely on the bill of sale dated 14 Oct 1638 which refers to her husband John as "the late deceased Serjeant John Harris" as of that date.[7] However, this record does not indicate whether or not John's wife Dorothy was still alive at the time of the transaction.
Children
Children of John Harris and Dorothy (___) include:[3][8]
- Dorothy, b. abt 1620[2]
- Unknown infant, living in 1623[1]
- John, b. 1 May 1624,[5] possibly died young in England.
Research Notes
Disputed Origins
Dorothy's origins are unknown but there are two competing theories for potential origins.
One theory is that she was a Cawcott or Calcott, as her daughter Dorothy inherited land from George CAWCOTT.[7]
Another theory is that she was related to Edward Lymbery of Stepney, Middlesex, based on the parish records of St Dunstan, Stepney, Middlesex, which contain a baptism record for a "Jno sonne of Jno Harris of Virginia gent & Dorothy his wife borne in ye .. of Edward Lymbery of Lyme house mar [Mariner]; the same daie".[5][6] While this record implies that there was some relationship between John and Dorothy Harris and Edward Lymbery, it is unclear exactly what the relationship was.
Disputed Children
John Bennett Boddie argued in Historical Southern Families that Thomas Harris was an additional son of John and Dorothy Harris.[9] This claim has been refuted in more recent published work, including by Dorman in his profile for John Harris in Adventurers of Purse and Person[3] and by Claiborne Smith in an article published in the Virginia Genealogist in 1993.[8] There does not appear to be any reliable evidence connecting that Thomas Harris to this family.
Boddie also speculated that Robert Harris "may have been" a son of John and Dorothy Harris, however Boddie cites no basis for this speculation other than the common last name. Dornan and Smith both reject this claim also. Dornan concludes: "No evidence has as yet been adduced to show a connection between the Harrises of Charles Cityand Isle of Wight counties."[3][8]
Similarly, Boddie speculated that the son John Harris who was born and baptized in England in May 1624 was living in Charles City County in 1664. That man's profile is John Harris. However, for the same reasons discussed above, both Dornan and Smith have persuasively argued that there is no evidence to support the claim that the John baptized in 1624 was the same John living in Charles City County in 1664.[3][8]
Disputed Marriage Claims
Prior versions of this profile gave marriage dates of 1595 and 1610 in England, but no source has been identified to support either of these claims.
Other Leads for Futher Research
Mattocks family Heritage Resources site includes information of interest about the Harris family in early Virginia
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 John Camden Hotten, ed., The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, (London, reprint New York: Empire State Book Co., 1874), 170; images, Hathitrust, (https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000362454 : accessed 18 Feb 2023).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 H.R. McIlwaine, ed., Minutes of the Council and General Court of Colonial Virginia, (Richmond: Library Board, Virginia State Library, 1924), 148 ("Dorethie harris the daughter of John harris aged seaven yeers or therabouts"); images, Internet Archive, (https://archive.org/details/minutesofcouncil00virg : accessed 18 Feb 2023).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person: Virginia 1607-1624/5 4th ed., 3 vols, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2005), e-book edition, profile for Harris (John).
- ↑ Clairborne T. Smith, Jr., "Sergeant John Harris of Charles City County, Virginia: A Reappraisal," Virginia Genealogist 37(1993): 18-24, at 18; transcription.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ancestry, "London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812," database with images, (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/557884:1624 : accessed 18 Feb 2023), left col. 4th from bottom, ("Jno, sonne of Jno Harris of Virginia gent; & Dorothy his wife born in [...] of Edward Lymberly of Lyme House, mar.; bpt same d[ay?]") Ancestry Sharing Link.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Smith, "Sergeant John Harris," Virginia Genealogist 37:19
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nell Marion Nugent, Cavaliers and Pioneers: Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants 1623-1800, 5 vols, (Richmond: Dietz Printing Co., 1934), 1:113; citing Patent Book 1, part II, p. 668.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Clairborne T. Smith, Jr., "Sergeant John Harris of Charles City County, Virginia: A Reappraisal," Virginia Genealogist 37(1993): 18-24; images, American Ancestors, (https://www.americanancestors.org/DB285/i/12372/18/0 : accessed 19 Feb 2023) (subscription required); transcription.
- ↑ John Bennett Boddie, Historical Southern Families, v. 1 (Redwood City, Calif., 1957), pp. 293 et seq.; available on Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/48273/ : accessed 18 Feb 2023) (subscription).
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Rejected matches › Dorothy Lymbrey (1560-1600)
Featured National Park champion connections: Dorothy is 14 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 20 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 15 degrees from George Catlin, 14 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 19 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 16 degrees from George Grinnell, 23 degrees from Anton Kröller, 17 degrees from Stephen Mather, 22 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 15 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 23 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
[Do you know Dorothy's family name?] | H > Harris > Dorothy (Unknown) Harris
Categories: Charles City County, Virginia | Estimated Birth Date | Virginia Colonists
As reflected in the profile, the attached children Thomas, Robert, and John are all based on claims by Boddie in 1957 in Historical Southern Families which have been rejected by more recent researchers, including Dorman in Adventurers of Purse and Person and Claiborne Smith's 1993 article in the Virginia Genealogist which are cited in the profile. I propose to detach those children based on the more recent research and add notes explaining why to each of their profiles. Please weigh in if anyone disagrees with this approach.
Profile needs a reliable source to keep the LNAB.
Rick draper (Draper-310)
At a Court of 04 Jun 1627 'Dorethie Harris the daughter of John Harris aged seaven years or therabouts' was recorded in a case against Charles Maxey who was ordered to be whipped for his offence. Perhaps reflecting the different culture of the period, Dorothy the mother of Dorothy, was to 'correct' the younger Dorothy for her 'offence'.
John Harris was dead by Oct 1638. In a bill of sale of 14 Oct 1638, Francis Derrick conveyed to Richard Johnson 30 acres Derrick had bought from John Baker and Dorothy his wife, daughter of the late Serjeant John Harris, by order of Henrico Court 27 Aug. 1638. The grant stated that Dorothy had inherited the land by will from George Cawcott.